Nubs I'm with you. This shouldn't be about breaking laws, it should be about common decency of a property owner to allow a hunter to retrieve a deer they shot on another property that just happened to die across a border in the woods.

Some land owners are pure dickheads and no matter what they aren't going to allow you to retrieve that deer if they know about it. If asking them politely doesn't work then I too advocate going in under the cover of darkness to retrieve the deer. Sure it's a risk you take and could get caught trespassing but that's the risk.

I personally believe the law is flawed in this situation and should be changed. If the DNR knew how to put itself to good use they could help solve this problem but good luck there.

This very topic came up in both Hunting classes I have sat through. I am not sure what the law is in other states, but in Indiana it was made very clear that a land owners right trumps recovery. As already been stated the DNR officer can lobby on your behalf, but if the land owner refuses then that's it.

However, the land owner has to leave it to rot. if the land owner tries and takes possession without proper tagging he/she is in a world of hurt. Simply contact the DNR officer and inform them that an individual has taken improper possesion of a game animal.

In addition they stated that if you cannot recover game due to a landowner denying permission. Then you have fulfilled your due diligence in trying to recover the game and your tag/license is still valid to go shot another one.

It is not a wise idea to try and skirt this. Trespassing can get you in a world of hurt plus it gives the general hunting community a bad rap. ie... Those hunters just go wherever they please, shooting up the place, blah, blah... Ya know the drill.

Gafrage,
I'm saddened to hear of this unfortunate situation. As it stands right now, I would wait a bit for things to cool down, then try to patch things up with the adjacent landowner.

In all situations involving land, we all know emotions can run high. The best thing is to build the relationship ahead of time....or at least know what to expect ahead of time if a deer crosses property lines.

If you know you can't cross, then a deer you shoot crosses the line, it's your own fault. I'm sure if I owned my own land and saw someone on it without permission, I'd be mad too. I would have absolutely no problem, however, if the person had spoken with me prior to the season.

I half thought about not even replying to this as it is obvious that "allthingshunting" has become a little emotional over this and has to resort to name calling to try and get his point across. The only reason I will reply to this one last time, is to clarify just a couple of things.

"by any means necessary" - First of all I never once stated that you should retrieve your game by any means necessary. I was responding to the original posters issue. His issue was his deer dies 15ft across the line and when he went to get it his neighbor chewed him out; wait until dark and go get it, problem solved. If you shoot your deer and it takes off into the neighbors and is gone, by this I mean you no longer have visual contact with your animal, then consider your deer gone, unless you can convince the landowner to let you get it.

I would never encourage anyone to ever enter someone else's dwelling to retrieve game, that is criminal trespassing which is different from walking unto some else's property. Criminal trespassing will land you in jail, civil trespassing may land you a citation.

So, what I am saying and this is just my opinion, if you see your deer go down on your neighbors property, you know right where it is, and you know this guy will not let you on his property. Wait until dark, walk the 15-20 feet across the line grab your deer and bring it back. You just got your deer back, you just saved 45 lbs of meat from going bad, and the other guy doesn't have a clue. If the neighbor finds your deer before you can get it and he tags it and brings it back to his place then it's gone and do not go into his shed to take it back.

You don't have to agree with me, this is just my way around a law that should be changed to allow hunters reasonable means to retrieve game. Lets face it, a lot of guys hunt on 10-20 acres and we all know how far a deer can run even with a slam dunk hit.

ORIGINAL: Nubs Lets face it, a lot of guys hunt on 10-20 acres and we all know how far a deer can run even with a slam dunk hit.

Exactly my case. I hunt on 20 acres, and by all of the rules, I have to be a certain amount of feet or yards from all types of things, roadways, houses, etc. My first statement was just simply a question about have you had neighbors that denied you the rights to make every possible effort to retrieve the game. Keep in mind, which I didn't mention before, was that when she chewed me out, she was on the property of the land owner I hunt on, and just happened to be passing through, which is why I was so upset.

There are a lot of other fishy things to the whole situation. Which I'd rather not mention on here, but I do appreciate all of your comments, ideas and vents too!

Also spoken from Law Enforcement; the law is the law and unfortunately, if your game crosses the line and the landowner doesn't want you crossing, then count your losses.
I usually don't pipe in on these things but after reading this forum I couldn't help but register and say my piece.
Law Enforcement should never advise to break the law, no matter how little or how much it means to you. Remember, these laws are made by the people who represent you. If you don't like them, take action to change them but don't break them or advocate breaking them.
Also; generally classifying Law Enforcement as the greatest hypocrites is truly an unfair statement. Sure there are some bad apples as in any profession but believe me, most are truly good and honest people who really try and make a difference.
It's a bummer that these things happen. I've had it happen to me also but being courteous and level-headed will get you much further.
Good luck to all in the remainder of the hunting season. Be safe.

Garfage: I ran into a situation very much like yours just last weekend. I hunt with family members on property that i have owned for 20 plus years and had a very good relationship with the adjoining propery owner who passed away last season and the property is now in the hands of a nephew of the gentleman who died.

Starting last season the nephew began harrassing the hunters from my party about hunting on his land (the previous owner allowed us to retrieve game and make small drives), i had a conversation with the new owner/caretaker last season and agreed we would limit our entering his property to retrieving game only and all my hunters have been told to stay on our side of the property line.

Now this year the harrassment escalated to the point that the owner would make a daily appearance along the property line and shout at my hunters while on stand about staying on thier side of the fence. These encounters would take place at prime deer movement times and continued throughout the opening weekend. So i decided to again talk with the owner and see if we could come to an agreement before things get out of hand. He now has issues with some stand placement he feels is too close to property lines (the stands have been there for several years) not sure as of now how to handle this. I did inform him that one of the stands would not be removed (out of respect for my father who is no longer able to hunt) but i would remove the ladder so it can not be used.

Thats a tough and sad situation. To me it sounds like you are handling it right. Looks like hes gonna make it difficult no matter what you do. I would just stay on your land and try to stay away from him. You can do or sit where you want to on your land and he cant do anything about that except being childish which it sounds like he is already doing. Hang in there, the good side always wins.

Jake

Genesis 27:3 Take your bow and quiver full of arrows out into the open country, and hunt some wild game.....

Thank you for your thoughts, its upsetting after many years of dealings with this mans uncle and the nephew with no incidents to have things go 180. All the hunters from that property have spent time at our cabin as well as our hunters at thiers.